Forbidden Love

chapter twenty five

"Do you have to leave?" Tobias asked me for the third time tonight. Every time he did my heart broke a little. He wasn't one to explain his feelings often but once he did it was hard to forget about it.

I lingered by the front door and sighed as I leaned my head against the back of the wall. His hand was caressing my cheek while his other hand lingered by my waist. Any moment know he would grip the bottom of my back and push me towards him, trapping me in his grasp.

"You make it so hard for me to leave you," I whined, slowly pushing his hands away from me.

He smiled mischievously before latching his arms around my torso, as expected. "That's the point sweetheart."

His teasing behavior made me almost forget about what happened tonight. One more touch and I would've forgotten that I needed to go back to Noel's house and spend the night with her. With a defeated sigh I leaned closer into him and inhaled his scent as I laid my head on his chest.

"Are you okay?" He asked suddenly, his voice filled with concerned.

I wrapped my arms around his stomach and buried myself into his chest. "Just hug me."

I felt Tobias's arms hold me tighter. I closed my eyes and took in this moment. Times like this I wished that I had met Tobias sooner, before all the blind dates that I suffered through, before meeting Julian. If that were the case I wouldn't let anyone separate me from him.

"I'll see you soon, yeah?"

I nodded and released my hold on him. Tobias brushed away the loose pieces of my hair and kissed me tenderly on the lips, nice and loving like the man I knew he really was. This whole bad boy facade was just a way to protect himself. He was scared in the inside and the only way he knew how to respond was by acting mean and ruthless like his parents were. But I knew better. He was exactly the man I always dreamt of meeting; a diamond in the rough.

~*~

I slowly crept into Noel's apartment, making sure to not make any noise in case they were asleep. As soon as I shut the door I heard the wooden floors creak. Noel energetically jumped in front of me with a big smile on her face.

"You actually lived up to your promise," she boasted, sticking out her hip as she placed her left hand on it. "This is a first."

I gave her a small smile and grabbed my duffle bag on the floor. "I would've expected you to be asleep by now."

"Oh you know," she responded, puckering her lips. "I had to see if you would actually show up."

I laughed and grabbed my pajamas. "Yeah, okay that's what it was."

"Okay so maybe Scott made me wait up until you came back," she replied, rolling her eyes. "Same thing."

"You know sometimes it's like Scott's my best friend instead of you."

I walked into the bathroom and began to strip out of my heavy winter clothes. I slipped into my comfy oversized Columbia sweatshirt and leggings. I wrapped my hair and emerged out of the bathroom. Noel was sitting down on the couch with her feet pushed up on a rester.

"How was Tobias? I hope he didn't get hurt too bad," she asked, frowning slightly. I sat down next to her and buried myself in covers.

"He'll manage," I finally said. "He has some pretty bad bruisings and he probably has something broken but if he did he didn't tell me what."

Noel's eyes got big and watery. "Aw poor guy! Do you think I should've came with you? How inconsiderate of me!"

I chuckled quietly. "Trust me Noel, he was fine. He didn't even need me there or anyone for that matter."